catholic block

This morning I woke up super early (by new standards) so that I could take my 45 minute park walk with Penny and get fresh and pretty to drop off my sister and her fiancé at the airport. They are going to Seattle for a few days and I was nice/dumb enough to do research and plan them what should be an awesome adventure. I am a teeny bit jealous, but now I have an excuse go to Portland without them as sweet revenge. That is unless they make good on their promise to bring me back rad souvenirs for my free travel agent skills.

On the way to the airport my mom made a comment about this little old church nearby and asked if I wanted to go see it. I said I didn't really want to since I wanted to keep on task with my room project and also because we're lapsed Catholics. Even if you stop going to church, the guilt sticks with you. As we were leaving the airport she wanted to see the ruins of an old winery and restaurant we used to eat at, so we did . The little church was only a few minutes from there so she asked again if we wanted to go. Since it was just right there and looked adorable, we went for it.

We met a priest in the parking lot, wished him good morning and so on. I tried to have my best manners and reverence but I know my lapse was showing in my face. My mom asked if they had a gift shop (because so many churches do?) and he said they did not but gave the name of a local catholic gift store. He told us the lady in the office could let us know of some others. My mom was looking for the head coverings that women wear to traditional mass. It's super old school, but a few churches still go that route. I only remember seeing old ladies wear them in my church going days. Anyway we get to the office and are ready to ring the bell when we see this sign asking to "please dress modestly". I'm in a t-shirt and above the knee denim skirt, my mom has a sleeveless blouse and pants, my niece has a long sleeved knit shirt and leggings and she is the only one who could enter the office.

I already felt I would burst into flames if I entered the church, but apparently I was already too immodestly dressed to be allowed inside. Even though I don't go anymore I usually feel a bit more comforted or peaceful after visiting a church. I just go inside, cross myself and think/pray for a few minutes and I'm good. Today I felt like I wasn't good enough. We had my niece go in and get holy water to bless us. The church was mostly empty but I didn't want to disrespect their rules and invite further guilt. I took a quick peek inside and it was gorgeous.

We left in search of head coverings but came up empty handed. They did not have much variety and the ones they had were not to our liking. If they had beautiful ones I probably would have got one so I could get all retro modestly dressed up and go to mass at least once. I've been watching too much Mad Men but I know I would get the Father Gil call out for not taking communion, which could only be because I haven't gone to confession. That's one of the things I don't agree with. I think all my bad stuff should be between me and the higher power, not me and a guy in a dark closet. Well some of the bad stuff was me and a guy in a dark closet. Anyway, we didn't find what we wanted but I did get a St. Francis medal to clip on Penny's collar.